UNIT 1 GRADES & COMMENTS
Hello, Everyone:
Your grades for Unit 1 have been posted and should be available to you along with my comments
on each. If you can't access your grades, please contact student tech support by clicking on the
'Support' link in the upper right corner of your page.
Overall, I have found you to be an intelligent and serious group that is genuinely interested in
improving your writing skills, succeeding at this university, and making a better life for yourself
and your family. I want you to know that I support you in each of those goals and will do
everything I can to help you.
Two Suggestions for Improvement
1. The first one has to do with reading the assignment carefully and following directions to
the letter. The writing assignment called for you to first do a journal entry, then read Chapters 7
and 8, and then write an essay based upon your journal entry. Chapters 7 and 8 gave a great
deal of information about the need for your essay to have a thesis statement, paragraph topic
sentences, paragraph unity and coherence. Your essay was supposed to reflect your
understanding of those basic essay components: thesis, body paragraphs, and support for your
main points.
Many of you simply proofread the journal entry and cleaned up the surface errors without actually
restructuring it as an essay with an essay's basic components. In the future, be sure that you (1)
understand the assignment and (2) follow the directions carefully, including any required reading
in your text. If you have any questions about what any assignment calls for, don't hesitate to
contact me via email or voicemail.
2. The second observation is about your Discussion Forum posts. As you know, your posts are
a graded element in this course and therefore require thought and preparation in order for
you to receive the top grade. Here are the directions for evaluation of Discussion Forum
participation given to AIU instructors:
Discussion Board
Discussion Board topics are tied to specific course Learning Events for each week of the fiveweek session. Students should post their individual answers to the Discussion Board prior to
reading and responding to others. Students should not attach files to the Discussion Board. DB
participation is required and evaluated qualitatively using these criteria:
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A (90 - 100%): Student answered the question fully and intelligently, using the text as
support. To earn a high A, the student must cite external research sources, make
reasonable inferences, and /or provide a real world example. Response was posted
within the allotted time frame and was written at a college-level.
B (80 - 89%: Student answered the question and/or responded to other postings.
Response was posted within the allotted timeframe and was written at a college-level.
C (70 - 79%): Student answered the question briefly or incompletely. Response was
posted within the allotted timeframe and was written at a college-level.
D (60 - 69%): Student answered the learning event incompletely and/or outside the
allotted timeframe.
F (Below 60%): Student did not answer the question at all.
Since the discussion board is meant to be interactive, you must comment on other student
postings: share a personal experience, comment substantively and ask a follow-up question,
and/or quote an outside reference to receive full credit.
Hope the above helps explain more what is expected! I look forward to reviewing your Unit 2
submissions.
David Taylor